September is an exciting month for FunDza. With International Literacy Day on 8 September and a host of other book and literacy-related events, FunDza is calling it Literacy Month! We have an exciting line up: staff members will be going all over the country as part of National Book Week, there’s a special FunDza Open Book Festival event, and we’re launching our own in-house staff project with a self-written Haiku to share our passion for reading – stay tuned!
1 September: Our poetry competition “Words that Matter to Me” goes live. Short 8-10 line poems about words that have had an impact on you, healing words, harming words, where you heard words that meant something to you – we look forward to the entries! Interested? Enter here.
6 September: Nandipha Tshabane represents FunDza in Gelvandale (Eastern Cape), for National Book Week.
7 September: Dorothy Dyer holds a “Reading Opens Doors” workshop at Bridge House School in Franschhoek.
7-8 September: Zimkhitha Mlanzeli and Sonja Kruse represent FunDza in Vredenburg, for National Book Week.
7-8 September: Mignon completes the second module in the TSIBA Leading Sustainability course in Johannesburg.
7-9 September: Nandi spreads even more FunDza love in the Eastern Cape visiting beneficiary groups.
8 September: To celebrate Literacy Day and what reading means to us here at FunDza, we will be sharing on various social media platforms our own Haiku and photos, so keep a look out for us in your newsfeed! What is a Haiku? Originating in Japan, it is a poem of seventeen syllables, in three lines of 5, 7, and 5.
9 September: Fifteen students from False Bay College, who were involved in our “Reading for Enjoyment” campaign join FunDza at Open Book Festival. They’ll be attending the special FunDza event and will also go to other interesting talks with fascinating writers and thinkers, it’s a real treat for both students and FunDza staff. On that note – come and listen to some of our esteemed authors speak at the Fugard Theatre (free entry!) from 10h00-11h00.
9 September: Masibulele Lunika represents FunDza in Sodwana Bay (KwaZulu Natal), for National Book Week.
9-10 September: Phoebe Sibomana and Ndibulele Sotondoshe represent FunDza in Meyerton, Gauteng and Seshego, Polokwane for National Book Week.
10 September: Zimkhitha Mlanzeli and Sandra Hill run a ‘Writing Me’ workshop with learners at Ikamva Youth in Makhaza.
12 September: Interview with Zimkhitha Mlanzeli and Ndibulele Sotondoshe and Cape Talk! Tune in at 2pm and listen to “New Beginnings” on Cape Talk, a section of Pippa Hudson’s show where they talk to people who are either making a fresh start themselves or helping others to do so.
18 September: Zimkhitha Mlanzeli and Sandra Hill get interviewed by Nancy Richards on the SAFM Literature Show to chat about the Writing Me workshop and encouraging young people to write their stories.
24 September: Shelley Bolle sets off on a big personal adventure – the Atacama Crossing in Chile! She’ll be running 250 kilometers through the desert over a seven day period with all her belongings on her back. Wish her luck!!
27 September: Mignon presents at the ‘Innovation in Education’ seminar at UCT.
30 September: The “Words that Matter to Me” Poetry Competition ends. Get those entries in early!
30 September – 2 October: At the Reading Association of South Africa’s conference in Pietermaritzburg, Dorothy Dyer is giving a FunDza presentation “FunDza Literacy Trust: getting teens reading – what we’ve learned”.
30 September – 2 October: Ros is at the Underberg-Himeville Arts Festival running writing workshops.